Tinder Box: The Iroquois Theater Disaster, 1903 by Anthony P Hatch
Six hundred and two people, mostly women and children, lost their lives in the fire even worse than the Great Chicago Fire that destroyed most of the city in 1873. The Iroquois Theater was advertised as “absolutely fireproof.” It was not.
Hatch has written a very readable, but scholarly, look at the causes, failings, politics, and machinations of the owners, builders, managers, politicians, firemen and inspectors charged with safeguarding the lives entrusted to them. Illustrated by 30 pages of photographs and drawings and supported by personal interviews with survivors and voluminous research, he details the fire itself and the changes that resulted from the fire.
Any group interested in history, fires or politics will find this an interesting and revealing look at the fire, what lead up to it and the changes it forced.
5 of 5 stars ( )

Long forgotten by most people in the US, the Iroquois Theatre fire of 1903, in Chicago, was one of the deadliest disasters of the 20th century. The exact number killed will never be known, due to confusion at the scene and in the aftermath, but approximately 600 people were killed in a conflagration which swept through the overcrowded, brand-new, hurriedly-opened -- and dangerously incomplete -- theater.

Author Anthony P. Hatch shows us the theater's shortcomings in no uncertain terms. He also introduces us to people and practices involved in the construction of the theater and approval of its clearly premature opening. We also meet some of the victims and survivors of the fire.

Hatch also demonstrates how the tragedy shocked the nation and the wider world. At the time, it had a global impact regarding issues of fire safety in public buildings. It led to massive changes in fire codes, and the development of a number of safety innovations.

I found the book reasonably complete and quite engrossing. Where some of the facts were confusing, well there was great confusion and contradictions in the reports of the fire at the time. The book includes a section of photos, many from the author's own collection. Hatch began his research 40 years prior to publication, so a great deal of thought went into the project.

This is a fascinating look at a terrible tragedy, including the factors which led up to it and its aftermath. It's also a call to look at places of public assembly in our own time. How much safer are we in public buildings today? ( )

On December 30, 1903, the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago was crowded beyond capacity with theatergoers eager to see Eddie Foy in "Mr. Blue Beard". The well-written and well-researched "Tinder Box" by Anthony Hatch describes what happened that tragic afternoon when a spotlight short-circuited starting a fire that eventually killed over 600 people.

Considering the fact that the fire happened over 100 years ago, with no living witnesses to interview and many facts have been lost in time, Hatch does an admirable job describing the events leading up to the fire, the fire itself, and the aftermath. He does an excellent job describing how the Iroquois came to be built and the haste with which it was built (it only took five months) and the shoddy workmanship involved, as well as how many officials were willing to turn their heads and ignore the many fire code violations at the Iroquois. His description of the crowded theatre the day of the fire is mind boggling; one victim in fact called the theater a fire trap as she went to her seat. There were over 500 more people than capacity in attendance; the exit doors opened in instead of out; and the person who was supposed to operate the fire curtain was a substitute who didn't know which lines actually worked the curtain. There was little done to help the audience and incredibly enough the actors continued to perform while the fire was burning. Hatch also gives descriptions of the fire victims and survivors, which make the tragedy even more real. Some of the ways people escaped the fire were incredible and there were many heroes that night. There were also many villains that night and Hatch describes they way people robbed some of the dead. Hatch also covers the aftermath of the fire including the trial and how the owners tried to blame the victims and how evidence was tampered with.

Although Hatch did not write the book until 2002, he had started to research it back in the 1960's and at that time had interviewed a fireman who had fought the fire and a newspaper reporter who covered the fire. Those accounts helped make the scene of the fire real as I was reading the book. There was no spot photography at the time, so while there are pictures of the theatre before and after the fire, there are no actual pictures of the fire itself. But Hatch includes many drawings done at the time of the fire that show how horrible it was. He also includes editorial cartoons that show how much the fire touched the lives of people in Chicago. There is not a list of people who died in the fire because there was never an exact count of how many people did die.

"Tinder Box" is a well-written account of a tragic event in Chicago's history. ( )

The Iroquois Theatre was intended to rival the greatest theaters in New York. The design was inspired by European architecture, the interior finishes were luxurious, and the theater was advertised as "absolutely fireproof". The city had been destroyed in the Great Chicago fire of 1871, and the local fire codes had been substantially updated in 1898. However, the theater had been rushed to completion, and it opened on November 23, 1903 without many of the fire protection features that were required for all places of assembly.

Warnings were available, had anyone chosen to heed them. William Clendennin, editor of Fireproof Magazine, had visited the Iroquois during the construction phase, and had reported the “…absence of an intake, or stage draft shaft; the exposed reinforcement of the concrete [proscenium] arch [above the stage]; the presence of wood trim on everything and the inadequate provision of exits.”

Visiting the Iroquois just days before the opening, the captain of the nearest fire station found no exit signs, drapery concealing many of the exits, no backstage telephone, no fire alarm system, no sprinkler protection, inadequate fire hoses with no water supply, no backstage fire buckets or pike poles. Upon reporting these deficiencies to his battalion chief, he was advised that nothing could be done. Not wanting to risk his career, he went no further.

Charles Collins, a reporter who attended the opening, heard rumors that co-owner Will Davis had stopped by the Iroquois when heavily painted scenery flats were being carried in through the stage doors. Davis supposedly said “that stuff is the most flammable goddamn mess of scenery I ever saw. . . I won’t let it go into this theatre.” However, feeling financial pressure from the delayed opening, and fearing to cross Erlanger of the theatrical trust, Davis allowed the props to be used.

The matinee performance on December 30 was sold out, and the audience consisted largely of women and children. Hoping to recoup losses from the delayed opening of the theater, and from lower than expected attendance for the lavish Mister Bluebeard show, management also sold at least 200 tickets for general admission or “standing room” at the back of the highest balcony.

When the fire started, just after the beginning of the second act, the dancers and the orchestra continued their performance, while backstage crews attempted to extinguish the fire. But the few Kilfyre extinguishers available were intended for use on domestic chimney fires, and were totally inadequate to extinguish a fire in highly combustible scenery. The stage manager had left the building on an errand. The curtain man was in the hospital, and the substitute curtain man could not determine which curtain should be lowered, or which rope controlled which curtain. The house fireman called for someone to “pull the [alarm] box”, but there was no box to pull. A stagehand was eventually sent to run to the nearest fire station.

Eddie Foy, the star of the show, had brought his 6 year old son to watch the performance. Handing his son off to a fleeing stagehand, Foy stepped to the front of the stage. With flaming scenery falling all around him, and his wig smoking, Foy encouraged the orchestra to keep playing, and attempted to keep the audience calm.

Stagehands broke open the oversized scenery doors backstage, allowing most of the cast members to escape, but the resulting backdraft proved fatal for the audience in the balconies. The contractors had failed to connect the controls for the roof ventilation systems. Worse, they had nailed shut the vents over the stage, and left open the vents above the auditorium, leaving the audience essentially in a chimney.

Hatch began writing this book in the 1960s and was able to interview a number of people who were personally involved with the fire, including firefighters and a reporter. A busy career intervened, but Hatch resumed the project in time to publish his book for the 100th anniversary of the fire.

Hatch sets the story against the background of a recession, a transit strike, monopoly control of theatrical bookings, rampant anti-Semitism, and corruption in local government. His descriptions of fire progression and fire department operations are more credible than those of other authors. The book includes extensive end notes and a bibliography. ( )

One of the best disaster books. ( )